WINTERGREEN ADAPTIVE SPORTS KICKS OFF
WINTER SEASON AT
WINTERGREEN RESORT
Organization also announces
successful matching donation challenge
WINTERGREEN,
Va. (Dec. 8, 2011) – Wintergreen Adaptive
Sports (WAS), which offers educational programs that encourage individuals
with disabilities to learn to ski and snowboard, will kick off the winter
season at Wintergreen Resort on
Monday (Dec. 19) with the opening of its Adaptive Snow Sports School.
The school
will operate seven days a week, offering half-day and full-day lessons in
skiing and snowboarding for children, teenagers and adults with any type of
disability.
WAS, a non-profit
organization founded in 1996, provides standard and adaptive equipment, as well
as trained volunteer instructors, both adult and teenaged. Skiing offers
disabled individuals profound therapeutic benefits, including increased
physical vitality and stamina, as well as important improvements in overall
mental and emotional health.
Here is a
look at other upcoming WAS events for the remainder of this year and into
2012:
- Tuesday, Dec. 27; Monday, Jan. 16; and Saturday, Feb.
11 | Executive Director’s Open House: From 10 to 11 a.m. on each of the three days,
members of the community are invited to visit the WAS snow sports school
building to take a closer look at what the organization offers and how it
operates.
- Friday, Jan. 20-Sunday, Jan. 22 | The 8th
Annual Wounded Warrior Weekend at Wintergreen Resort. Approximately 75 wounded warriors, spouses,
children, and caregivers will enjoy a complementary weekend of snow sports
instruction and fun. In 2004, WAS became one of the first adaptive
snow sports programs to offer a wounded warrior sport project.
- March 3 | Mardi Gras Celebration on Snow. Participants are invited to come in
costume, join the on-snow parade, and enjoy a fun synchronized
skiing competition.
In a recent
key organizational development, WAS – which relies on individual donations,
grants and business sponsorships for nearly all of its funding – announced that
a fundraising effort earlier this year brought in more than $30,000, with the
Donovan Foundation contributing $10,000 as part of a matching donation
incentive.
For more
information on Wintergreen Adaptive Sports, visit www.skiwas.org or call (434)
325-2007.
# # #
About
Wintergreen Adaptive Sports (WAS): The mission of Wintergreen Adaptive Skiing
is to establish, operate, and maintain educational programs that encourage
children, teenagers, and adults with disabilities to learn to ski. The program
provides standard and adaptive equipment, as well as trained volunteer
instructors, both adult and teenaged. Skiing offers disabled individuals
profound therapeutic benefits, including increased physical vitality and
stamina, as well as important improvements in overall mental and emotional
health. Over the organization’s 16-year history, WAS has given thousands of ski
and snowboard lessons, and more than 100 volunteer instructors work with the
program each year. With its staff of volunteer instructors, many of them
professionals in medical and rehabilitative fields, WAS anticipates providing
more than 500 all-day private ski lessons this season. Lessons are offered at
an affordable price with many scholarships available; no one is turned away due
to an inability to pay. The region served by WAS includes the entire
mid-Atlantic area of the United States. WAS also serves students from the
metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C., Richmond, Va., Raleigh-Durham, N.C.,
and many of the smaller cities and rural communities within 150 miles of
Wintergreen Ski Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Though
independent from Wintergreen Resort itself, WAS operates with the full support
of Wintergreen’s management and community. More information: www.skiwas.org, or (434) 325-2007.
About
Wintergreen Resort: Wintergreen Resort is an 11,000-acre, four-season
resort located in the Blue Ridge Mountains southwest of Charlottesville. This
beautiful hideaway is the ultimate vacation and conference spot, nearly 300
condominium-style accommodations; 45 holes of championship golf; snow skiing,
snowboarding and snow tubing; an award-winning tennis program; a full-service,
destination spa; 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space; and savory
dining options. The resort is located adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway in
beautiful central Virginia near Charlottesville, just 90 minutes from Richmond,
Va., three hours from Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, N.C., five and a half hours
from Philadelphia, and eight hours from Atlanta. For more information, guests
can call (434) 325-2200 or visit the resort’s web site at www.wintergreenresort.com.
Media
Contacts:
Dana Quillen
Wintergreen Resort
(434) 325-8150
dquillen@wintergreenresort.com
Karen
Moraghan
Hunter Public Relations – East
(908) 876-5100
kmoraghan@hunter-pr.com